Nick Saban slips to No. 2 in list of top coaches in college football: ‘They continue to do what they do’

Alabama head coach Nick Saban is arguably the greatest coach ever, having won seven national championships between his time at Alabama and LSU. As of now, though, he’s ranked second on the list of college football coaches.

On3’s J.D. PicKell explained in an episode of The Hard Count why Saban is so great and why he’s currently number two on his list of coaches.

“At number two, I have Nick Saban,” PicKell said. “And before you throw anything at the television, before you turn off this podcast, Nick Saban is without a doubt, without question, the greatest of all time. Like, Nick Saban has got GOAT status.”

“No question about it. Seven national championships, been to a Natty two of the last three years, he won one in 2020, he’s two plays away a season ago from being undefeated. Haters will yell from the back row, ‘Well, he’s also two plays away being 8-4.’ I hear you. I don’t care. Two plays away from being undefeated.”

Beyond just being incredibly successful, Nick Saban has been successful with a revolving door of assistant coaches.

“And he routinely has had different coordinators in and out of Tuscaloosa, and it’s not because Nick Saban wants them out every single year. I don’t think that’s the case. I think a lot of it is, people understand, okay, go coach for Nick Saban, have a good time doing that, probably have a nice chance to get you some jewelry, and then go take a head coaching job in another Power 5 conference, or maybe have a chance to go be an NFL coach. Like, that’s the system he has in place and consistently the process and the way Nick Saban does things yields tremendous results and they continue to do what they do at Alabama.”

There are some notable coaches who have worked for Nick Saban before becoming head coaches. In the SEC alone, Lane Kiffin, Jimbo Fisher, Kirby Smart, and Billy Napier all coached for Saban. Soon, Steve Sarkisian will be joining those coaches too.

“Now, recruiting, they have nothing but top-two classes right now on campus and when they use the transfer portal, they usually hit home runs with who they acquire. Jahmyr Gibbs being one of those pieces.”

The only reason that PicKell doesn’t have Saban at number one is because of how successful Kirby Smart has been lately. It’s simply impossible to ignore Georgia.

“If you have him at number one on your list, I have no issue. He would be number one, if not for the run that Georgia’s been on lately.”

Nick Saban on how he’s evolving with the college football landscape

One thing that has made Nick Saban great is his adaptability. He’s proven that over time and with changes like NIL and the transfer portal, he needs to adapt again. While speaking to Joel Klatt, Saban broke down how he’s trying to evolve again.

“You have to be flexible, number one. And I think if you’re flexible then you have a willingness to adapt. And I think your willingness to adapt is really, really important, because things are changing. I mean just in the last 15 years… we never had RPOs before. We never had to manage throws. We never had fastball offenses like we have now. And all those things create advantages. But they also create adaptations that are necessary for the other side of the ball,” Saban said.

“Off the field… whether it’s transfer portal, whether it’s Name, Image and Likeness, whether it’s expanding the playoffs, whether it’s bowl games not being as significant as they were before and guys opting out of playing in them… so there’s a lot of changes that are ongoing that you have to adapt to. And I think that rather than complain about it – which a lot of people sit around and complain. Complaining is actually a distraction to the solution. And I think you’ve gotta spend most of your time trying to figure out, ‘What is the solution? How can we adapt?’”